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Stat 5101 Lecture Notes - School of Statistics

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48 <strong>Stat</strong> <strong>5101</strong> (Geyer) Course <strong>Notes</strong>Corollary 2.20. If W , X, Y , and Z are random variables having first andsecond moments and a, b, c, and d are constants, thencov (aW + bX, cY + dZ)=ac cov(W, Y )+ad cov(W, Z)+ bc cov(X, Y )+bd cov(X, Z) (2.26)var (aX + bY )=a 2 var(X)+2ab cov(X, Y )+b 2 var(Y ) (2.27)cov (W + X, Y + Z) =cov(W, Y )+cov(W, Z)+cov(X, Y )+cov(X, Z) (2.28)var (X + Y )=var(X)+2cov(X, Y ) + var(Y ) (2.29)No pro<strong>of</strong> is necessary, since all <strong>of</strong> these equations are special cases <strong>of</strong> thosein Theorem 2.16 and its corollaries.This section contains a tremendous amount <strong>of</strong> “equation smearing.” It is thesort <strong>of</strong> thing for which the acronym MEGO (my eyes glaze over) was invented.To help you remember the main point, let us put Corollary 2.19 in words.The variance <strong>of</strong> a sum is the sum <strong>of</strong> the variances plus the sum <strong>of</strong>twice the covariances.Contrast this with the much simpler slogan about expectations on p. 35.The extra complexity <strong>of</strong> the <strong>of</strong> the variance <strong>of</strong> a sum contrasted to theexpectation <strong>of</strong> a sum is rather annoying. We would like it to be simpler. Unfortunatelyit isn’t. However, as elsewhere in mathematics, what cannot beachieved by pro<strong>of</strong> can be achieved by definition. We just make a definition thatdescribes the nice case.Definition 2.4.1.Random variables X and Y are uncorrelated if cov(X, Y )=0.We also say a set X 1 , ..., X n <strong>of</strong> random variables are uncorrelated if eachpair is uncorrelated. The reason for the name “uncorrelated” will become clearwhen we define correlation.When a set <strong>of</strong> random variables are uncorrelated, then there are no covarianceterms in the formula for the variance <strong>of</strong> their sum; all are zero by definition.Corollary 2.21. If the random variables X 1 , ..., X n are uncorrelated, thenIn words,var(X 1 + ...+X n ) = var(X 1 )+...+ var(X n ).The variance <strong>of</strong> a sum is the sum <strong>of</strong> the variances if (big if) thevariables are uncorrelated.Don’t make the mistake <strong>of</strong> using this corollary or the following slogan whenits condition doesn’t hold. When the variables are correlated (have nonzerocovariances), the corollary is false and you must use the more general formula<strong>of</strong> Corollary 2.19 or its various rephrasings.

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